Vegavis iaai was an ancient relative of ducks and geese, but it dived for fish like grebes or loons. Mark Witton. A 69-million-year-old skull found in Antarctica has been identified as a relative ...

Paleontologists have found the first complete skull of a controversial prehistoric bird. Known as Vegavis iaai, the bird thrived in late-Cretaceous Antarctica, then a tropical paradise. About a ...

A 69-million-year-old fossilized skull unearthed in Antarctica could rewrite the history of modern birds. The nearly complete skull belongs to Vegavis iaai, a prehistoric waterfowl species that ...

Around 20 years ago, a team of paleontologists identified Vegavis iaai for the first time, citing a fossil from Antarctica, around 68 million years to 66 million years old.At the time of the ...

A pair of Vegavis iaai, the earliest known modern bird at 69 million years ago, foraging for fish and other animals in the Late Cretaceous ocean off the coast of the Antarctic Peninsula ...

An illustration of "Vegavis iaai's" skeleton, with preserved bones depicted in white. Christopher Torres, University of the Pacific. Birds from elsewhere around the globe that date back to the end ...

For decades, scientists have wondered at the taxonomy of Vegavis iaai—an ancient avian specimen that lived in what is now Antarctica during the late Cretaceous period.; A new study, in which ...

Vegavis iaai was first reported 20 years ago by Dr. Julia Clarke of The University of Texas at Austin and several colleagues, who proposed it as an early member of modern birds evolutionarily ...

Scientists identify Vegavis iaai, a 69 million-year-old bird from Antarctica, as the oldest-known relative of modern birds, shedding light on avian evolution. Tue ,Jul 01, 2025 Mumbai ...

An artist’s interpretation of Vegavis iaai diving for fish in the shallow ocean off the coast of the Antarctic peninsula, with ammonites and plesiosaurs for company. Disclaimer: AAAS and ...

The Late Cretaceous modern (crown) bird,Vegavis iaai, pursuit diving for fish in the shallow ocean off the coast of the Antarctic peninsula, with ammonites and plesiosaurs forcompany.

By James WoodfordA 69-million-year-old skull found in Antarctica has been identified as a relative of geese and ducks, making it the oldest known modern bird.It belongs to a species that was first ...